Healthcare

Citizens Against Government Waste was pleased to learn that presidential candidate and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker agrees that Congress and their official staff have been given a special exemption under the Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare, and that it must be abolished. He joins fellow presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in calling for its repeal.

It is not too often that I agree with former Vermont Governor and Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean but when it comes to the government “negotiating” drug prices in Medicare Part D, he is correct.

News broke on Friday, July 24 that Anthem, the largest for-profit managed health care company in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, will purchase Cigna for $48.4 billion. The total deal, which includes purchasing Cigna’s debt, is worth $54.2 billion. Cigna is known primarily for administrating health insurance coverage for large employers. The Wall Street Journal notes Cigna is currently the fifth largest health insurer in the country and is being purchased by the second large

On July 6, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the independent, non-partisan investigative arm of Congress, released a report entitled, “Medicare Part B Drugs: Action Needed to Reduce Financial Incentives to Prescribe 340B Drugs at Participating Hospitals.” The report confirms what Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has been saying for some time; the 340B drug discount program is being abused by many hospitals for profit-making purposes and needs to be reformed.

On Thursday, June 18, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the 2.3 percent excise tax on total sales for certain medical devices that was created in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The legislation, H.R. 160, entitled the “Protect Medical Innovation Act,” passed by a vote of 280 to 140. All the Republicans and 46 Democrats voted for the legislation.

In years past, when people heard the terms Gold, Silver, Bronze, they thought about the Olympic medals. Now, they likely think of ObamaCare with its metallic collection of expensive healthcare plans of Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

Today, March 4, 2015, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments to King v. Burwell. It’s a big deal because it could decide whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as ObamaCare, survives in its current format. More to the point, the decision will have implications regarding the balance of power between the three co-equal branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and the Judicial.

The House of Representatives voted today on H.R. 596, a bill that would repeal and replace ObamaCare. H.R. 596 passed by a vote of 239 to 186. The bill was introduced by Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) and had 98 co-sponsors.